LISA is opening up about the personal cost of growing up in the K-pop industry in ALWAYS LALISA, revealing how years of intense training and relentless fan scrutiny shaped the way she learned to express herself. In a new statement shared via the Toronto Star, director Sue Kim discusses the BLACKPINK star’s experiences and the difficult relationship between fame, fandom and personal freedom explored in the documentary.
“I finally get to live my life,” LISA says in the film, reflecting on the years she spent inside South Korea’s highly demanding trainee system. She auditioned for YG Entertainment as a young teenager in Thailand before moving to South Korea, where she spent years preparing for her eventual debut with BLACKPINK.
The experience came with a significant personal cost. “I didn’t dare speak up or express my thoughts,” LISA says in ALWAYS LALISA. “And I had been living like that since I was 14.”
Kim brings that history into focus by showing some of the online comments directed at LISA throughout her career. The documentary features posts containing insults such as “talentless,” “gold digger,” “disgusting” and “Thai dog,” illustrating the intensity of the criticism that can surround one of K-pop’s biggest stars.
For LISA, the comments are not simply anonymous words on a screen. “It’s as if they search for the words that will cut my soul the deepest,” she says. “I’m a human being who works hard for what I love. Why is it not enough for them?”
The revelations add another dimension to ALWAYS LALISA, which follows a pivotal year in LISA’s career as she established herself beyond BLACKPINK. Kim spent 12 months traveling with the singer, documenting the creation and release of her debut solo album Alter Ego, her performance at Coachella, her acting debut as Mook in HBO’s The White Lotus Season 3 and her return to Thailand to reconnect with family and longtime friends.
Released in February 2025, Alter Ego debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and featured the singles “Rockstar,” “New Woman” with Rosalía and “Born Again” with Doja Cat and RAYE. The project marked a major step in LISA’s solo career while giving her greater space to define her identity outside of BLACKPINK.
ALWAYS LALISA will have its world premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12 before expanding to theaters and IMAX worldwide on October 12. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale September 9.
The documentary arrives just weeks before LISA’s next musical chapter. Her upcoming EP PRESS PLAY is set for October 23 via RCA Records under exclusive license from Lloud Co., with its lead single “SaWaDiKa” arriving September 3 and placing renewed emphasis on her Thai heritage.
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